Further to an early post whereby my iPhone 2G had issues connecting to wi-fi networks after a firware update, a similar thing happened to my iPhone 3G last week for no apparent reason.

My iPhone 3G wouldn’t connect to my TimeCapsule wi-fi. I rebooted the TimeCapsule and the iPhone but it still gave an error. I then tried with my 2nd home wi-fi network (Netgear DG384GT) and the same “unable to join the network” error message popped up. In case it was an issue with channel interference or WEP password mistakes I switched channels and turned all security off temporarily. This still didn’t solve anything, my MBPro, Air, AppleTV, Xbox etc could still connect perfectly as did my old iPhone 2G. I backed up my iPhone and then carried out a full restore but even the virginal factory fresh restored software refused to connect. Once a friend with another 3G came round and connected without a problem I had little choice but to book an appointment at Apple’s Genius bar.

The Genius tried to connect to the stores wi-fi and it failed, he checked the phone had the latest version, did a force reboot (I’d already done several) and then simply said “I’ll go and get you a new one”.

After checking for liquid damage using an otoscope to view the liquid damage indicators in the headphone socket and bottom port he gave me a new iPhone 3G and I was on my way.

Since I use MobileMe & Exchange PUSH, when I set up the accounts quickly on store on the new iPhone my contacts were pulled down onto the iPhone in under a minute which is useful since my iPhone backup was on my home machine a few hours away.

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Filed under: Apple, Technology, iPhone, error, iPhone, replacement, unable to join, unable to join the network, wifi, wireless